Rudd the twerp

I have long held Kevin Rudd in the lowest esteem possible both as a human being and as a politician. He talks a lot, has few ideas, is inept, has no conviction or values other than those of a power-hungry bureaucrat – he took most of his ideas from the Liberal Party going into the 2007 election – the big “me too” campaign. His apparent decision – if true – to scrap the ETS (CPRS) until at least 2013 is one of the most contemptible decisions in recent Australian politics. Rudd apparently claims that opposition from the Coalition and the Greens makes passing the bill impossible. Not true you lying sneak. What about a double dissolution of parliament based on a coherent defence of the ETS? What about presenting a case for the ETS that is as convincing as Malcolm Turnbull’s defence of it. If it is the major moral dilemma of out time why not seek to resolve the issue?

Turnbull showed greater moral strength and intellect on the ETS than did Rudd the twerp. Turnbull would have proven a much better Prime Minister.

I’ll watch with interest how the slimy syncophants of the left weasel-word their way out of this betrayal. Come on fella’s let’s hear it. Go quiet for a while and then…the Coalition is worse, Rudd was forced by circumstances,the hospitals debate is serious too …. Despicable Labor politicians and the Liberal Party, as now led by Tony Abbott – who from a minority position in the House of Representatives has secured his anti-ETS agenda – now dominate Australian politics. The only claimed distinction of Labor – that it would pursue more vehemently an ETS scheme than would a Howard Government was first softened by proposing a scheme essentially equivalent to that of Howard and now abandoned completely until, at the earliest, the next parliament.

Among the educated intellectual left look for the silences – not just what is said. Come on Andrew, John and the drone-like cheer squad at LP. Let’s hear the deafening silences.

20 comments to Rudd the twerp

I don’t think it’s such bad news… I think the political assessment that an election fought on climate change is a loser is absolutely correct, the great big new tax line is more effective than many lefties and others who care about climate change care to admit. Don’t you think a post-election ETS, renegotiated with the newly elected greens senators, instead of the current bill that came from negotiations with a one-hand-tied-behind-his-back Turnbull, will be a better piece of legislation?

I agree with you HC, except I had a lot of hopes for Rudd to start with (indeed, I would have had high hopes for Turnbull also) — and it’s not just the ETS — it’s basically everything. These guys are do-nothing populists. We had an education revolution (a website ranking high-schools!!), they started attacking boat-people again (the cheapest issue possible), they implemented laws they had to rescind (foreign ownership of houses — again something that won’t do much and appeals to xenophobia), thought of ways to bribe the electorate (just give money away!) and now we’ve got a proposal to increase the bureaucracy of the hospital system (yet no real plans to make it more efficient).

Rudd is the PM the greedy, fickle and stupid Australian electorate deserves. All you ageing conservative boomers are the same – you hate Rudd because he is a better Howard and he defeated your leader. Rudd might be bad but Howard was worse by any measure and only a dishonest person would think otherwise. Australia is overrun with self satisfied people like you, the media, business and the voting population. The real inconvenient truth is that you are mostly hot air – you don’t want to do anything about climate change – you want someone else to do it for you. If you expect politicians with there fingers on opinion polls to lead then you are a fool.

On Anzac Day we had the mixed pleasure of entertainment by players from the City of Blacktown Pipe Band. After listening to five drummers and seven sets of bagpipes going full bore for some time in a crowded bar I am painfully aware of what drones sound like.

The sound from LP is nothing like that at all. An ocarina orchestra is more their style.

If it was the greatest moral and economic issue of our times, Why didn’t Rudd negotiate with the greens? It looked like he was wedging the Libs and it worked with Nelson and Turnbull, but not Abbott. What can you say… it was always a great big new tax.

I suspect, as reported in today’s AFR, that the decision is more related to the budget than anything else. By taking the CPRS off the table, it is off the forward estimates, and this reduces prospective deficits by several billion dollars.

It might actually be a good thing. The CPRS turned into such a dog’s breakfast (this is Garnaut’s assessment) that scrapping it and starting again might give us something better. Of course that will still require Rudd to risk some political skin, something he does not like doing.

Geez, Harry, most of the “the slimy syncophants (sic) of the left” are at least as furious about it as you – they, not you, are the ones that Rudd has sold out most of all. LP aint no echo chamber at the moment.

But in your list of the possible alternative courses Rudd could have taken, one is conspicuous by its absence – do a deal with the Greens for a proper ETS. I wonder why you aren’t so keen on that one?

I don’t agree DD. The LP blog discussion is dotted with apologetics and misinformation. It often follows Uncle Milton’s line that the scheme was so flawed it was hopeless. I strongly disagree. The scheme had the bad feature of being overly generous to local power generators but offering exemptions to carbon exporters is consistent with my views of levying a tax on a destination basis. Having the scheme in place – despite deficiencies – would have been a huge advance.

I’ll stick with ‘syncophants’.

Rudd is not the property of left-wing clowns who have a particular reason to despise his policies.

Do a deal with the Greens??? At least they had the balls and nous to advocate straight carbon taxing, rather than some theoretically cute, but practically disastrous Carbon Profiteering Rorts Scheme. ETS hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried, has been rorted and the subject of massive rent seeking and outright fraud and yet still its fanatically blind supporters rally round the cause. Abbott is right that it’s just a massive tax grab dressed up by the usual suspects as concern for the environment. The truth in that is obvious now Labor are coming out and stating how much its abandonment will be saving ‘our’ Budget bottom line.

EAU, IPCC hockey stick fans always had the whole gamut of taxation raising at their disposal to shift across to straight carbon taxing but never contemplated it for the bleeding obvious. Rudd has seen the light and is now going for the softcock resource rent tax grab instead, whilst real environmental tax reform will go begging, along with all the other current tax system failings. If your champ disgusts you now, all I can say is look in the mirror.

Like you, I am disgusted with Rudd. I like Abbott more personally. But unlike you, I lean left on some social issues (immigration, indigenous affairs). Who should I give my vote to? Who do you plan to give your vote to? I’m torn. Part of me wants to give Abbott a go-he can’t do much harm, and Rudd is unbearable. On the other hand, I am genuinely worried about the popularity of climate denialism in conservative ranks. Maybe I suck it up and vote Green? I’d be genuinely interested to hear what you thought. I lean towards Labour as a default, and because their rank-and-file members are more sensible on climate change.

Robert, I think the Greens are a serious prospect because they have sensible – if not ideal – policies on the key issue of climate change. For me their strong environmental concerns are attractive too. Voting for them is a sensible way of registering disgust with the major parties. Given the impasse over an ETS a hefty carbon tax as suggested by the Greens is a good option.

I’ve come round to preferring a carbon tax to an ETS on straight political feasibility grounds, but observa’s claim that ETS’s haven’t ever worked, and that their economic benefits over a tax are purely theoretic, is patently untrue. You don’t hear much about acid rain in North Aamerica these days, observa – I wonder why? Might it have something to do with the ETS on sulphur emissions?

And a market fundamentalist above all should be able to see how being able to buy and sell carbon permits internationally would massively reduce the total cost of carbon abatement – it’s called gains from trade.

I’ll watch with interest how the slimy syncophants of the left weasel-word their way out of this betrayal. Come on fella’s let’s hear it.

Already heard it HC and was stunned. I also realised it was hopeless to dissuade this person of their defence of Rudd. It is amazing how party political peoples’thinking can be. Rudd is a disgrace. In a remarkable co-incidence on Catalyst tonight yet another program on the rapidly changing Antarctic. Earlier this week NOAA released a report stating that last March was the hottest on record and the period Jan – March the forth hottest period of those months.

I’m a market green among a sea of quantity control freaks by the way, albeit my Austrian mates haven’t cottoned on to the environmental bit yet. As for woolly-headed left green quants, they’re just suckers for the graduazzi in general (I define ‘graduazzi’ as the post secondary educated but including the self-made types. ie our managerial/tertiary class vis a vis an outdated middle class tag) There are an extraordinary number of green hypocrites among them, not least in Big Biz that can afford to pay due lip service to Gaia whilst there snouts are in every taxpayer trough. The graduazzi long ago demolihsed any semblance of integrity in the tax/subsidy system for the battlers and now they do it in the name of Gaia the wankers. Just ask yourself which leafy burbs are into worm farm, pea-straw mulch, rainwater tank, etc,etc subsidies?

As for CO2 the great moral imperative of our times, I’d simply ask you the same hypothetical I asked of a bunch of my dilly sister’s lefty, Gaia crowd one evening. What’s wrong with you raising all taxation via CO2E taxing? As they positively contemplated their new nirvana and largely all the pros, one part of a couple soon to be heading off on the grey nomad trail suddenly chipped in with ‘Oh, yes but I wouldn’t want that until after OUR trip’ Priceless! A woman after Rudd’s own heart and they voted for him in their droves.

As for an ETS, it’s over. Only a financial derivatives trader like Turnbull had the courage of Rudd’s convictions while Nelson was a man ahead of his time. Work it out for yourself.